Sarbanes Announces More Than $6.8 Million in Federal Grantmaking to Expand Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery in Owings Mills
Funding Will Help Construct More Than 5,000 Crypts, 1,000 In-Ground Cremains Sites and 1,000 Columbarium Niches, along with Improving Cemetery Landscaping and Other Infrastructure
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) today announced that Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery will receive $6,858,643 in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) Veterans Cemetery Grants Program to expand its capacity, improve landscaping and help fund supporting infrastructure on cemetery grounds.
The project will develop approximately 10.92 acres of land in Owings Mills and will serve nearly 115,300 Veterans and eligible family members in the region.
"This new and necessary federal investment in Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery will help ensure that Maryland veterans and their families receive an honorable burial on verdant and peaceful grounds," said Congressman Sarbanes. "Our veterans – and their families – make every sacrifice for our country, and we as a nation must do all that we can to pay homage to their service, honor their sacrifice and ensure that their memory be eternal."
The VA's Veterans Cemetery Grants Program helps states, territories and federally recognized tribal governments provide gravesites for Veterans in areas where the VA's national cemeteries cannot fully satisfy the region's burial needs. For more information about the VA's Veterans Cemetery Grants Program, visit: https://www.cem.va.gov/grants/.
To learn more about Garrison Forest Cemetery, visit: http://veterans.maryland.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2013/10/Garrison-Forest-Map-2016.pdf.
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